


Dreams

by KeywordKumquat



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Begging, Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dreams and Nightmares, Established Relationship, M/M, Night Terrors, Protective Natsu Dragneel, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-08-23 09:47:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20240827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeywordKumquat/pseuds/KeywordKumquat
Summary: Gray has a nightmare but Natsu is there to protect him.





	Dreams

Something was wrong. Very very wrong. At first Natsu had no idea what it was, prepping to fight off whatever it was with his magic as he leaped into consciousness. 

It was dark. There was no one obviously attacking, so he stopped himself before igniting his fists by instinct. 

Slowly but surely his surroundings caught up to him. Standing on a bed in the dark, with no attacker present certainly didn’t explain why he woke so suddenly nor the sinking feeling in his gut at the realization the wrongness was far from something he could punch.

Life was so much easier when you could just punch your problems. 

The strangled noise near his feet pulled his attention back to the present. Shaking and covered with sweat, Gay laid partially under the blanket still tangled around Natsu’s own feet. The shudders wracking his sleeping form disturbed Natsu to his very core. 

The smell of tears and sweat flooded him as he stared down at the messy dark mop of hair haloing a ghostly pale face. Gray’s face was the epitome of terror and despair, eyes squeezed shut, mouth pulled tight, lips parted. He looked almost like he was trying to smile as his face contorted from one expression of pain to another of absolute horror. 

He had to put a stop to this. 

Unsure how he had gotten back down to a sitting position so quickly, Natsu pushed all thoughts that didn’t center around a solution out of his mind. 

Pretty soon he found his arms wrapped tightly around shaking shoulders words spilling from his lips. He heard his own voice crack as he begged Gray to wake up, to snap out of it. He held on for dear life as his own sobs shook his very being. 

“Please,” he rambled on hardly realising it at this point, “please please please come back to me. I’m here. I’m-” sobs choked off his words but he kept pushing through, “I’ll protect you. I promise I’m here. I’ve got you. Just come back to me. Just come back and I’ll help you. Nothing can hurt you if I’m here. I’ll make sure. I promise. Gray, I promise. I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise, I promise,....” 

He was begging now. His hands warmed with his magic, his dragon instincts pushing through during moments of high stress. Shaking Gray and squeezing him tight wsa doing nothing. The cool man encircled in his arms shook with tension in his every muscle. His own magic poured out of his unconsciousness chilling the room only to be reheated by Natsu’s radiating heat. 

Then it happened. 

A gasp brought Gray back to the surface, trying to catch his breath and escape all at once. No was would Natsu let him go right now. The smell of fear and tears and sweat were flooding his senses and he needed Gray just as much as he needed Natsu at that moment. 

Seeming to notice what held him in place, Gray broke again, sobs wracking his body and ripping out of his throat. His struggle to free himself dissolved and he crumbled down into the embrace. 

Biceps bulged in an effort to hold each other ever closer. Neither of them could speak for a considerable amount of time, just needing to hold and be held. 

Raw emotions finally smoothed out and they were able to breathe more normally. Gray spoke first, breaking the silence with his shredded voice. Screaming in silent fear had left his voice airy and his throat sore. “Natsu. I can’t believe you’re okay. Thank the gods.”

Natsu had to restart several times as he found his own abused voice. “I’m right here. I’m okay, and I’m here.”

“But I thought-” Gray started but was cut off by a squeeze around his shoulders. “Will it make you feel better to talk about it right now?”

Gray thought on this seriously. Would it help? Explaining the details of his night terrors usually led him into more panic and fear. Finally deciding, he shook his head and let Natsu bury his in his shoulder. 

Laying like that in each others arms seemed to last forever, but it was what they needed. Some uncountable quantity of time later, Natsu muttered, “Won’t let anything hurt you. Just mine.” He seemed to be drifting off, lips caressing the sensitive junction of neck and shoulder below him. 

Natsu’s grip tightened further and his grumbling continued. “Gonna kill it. Nothing can touch whas mine. Only mine. ‘Ll show ‘im. ‘Morrow he’ll see. How strong. Gonna eat him. No one else. Jus’ mine.” 

The rambling continued, now interrupted by random snores giving Gray time to go through and deconstruct the beliefs he’d formed from the dream. Natsu here in his arms fully alive and powerful as ever felt so much more right, and the horrible real feeling of his lifeless body weighing down his arms as Gray tried to clutch his bleeding partner in the dream world. 

Without even nearing sleep again for the night, he held Natsu tenderly, loving the sounds and words spilling out of his own slumber. As morning neared, he found that Natsu’s dreams took a turn, groaning and rubbing a significantly harder part of his anatomy on Gray, he moaned out Gray’s name and various profanities. 

Banishing his nightmare from his mind and reasoning it would only cause more pain to analyze, he let the beginning flecks of sunlight filter into the room and his face. Some dreams, Gray mused as he listened to Natsu’s breathing speed up and waited for him to wake, might just be worth exploring in the light of day.


End file.
